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General Electric Presses for Backing of F-35 Engine With Carter

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. officials told
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, in their first
meeting since he took the post, that they’ll keep pressing to
win congressional backing for an alternative F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter engine.

David Joyce, chief executive officer of General Electric
Aviation, and other company officials met on Monday with Carter,
who became deputy defense secretary last month, according to GE
spokesman Rick Kennedy and Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

The Pentagon in April told General Electric and partner
Rolls-Royce Group Plc that it was ending the secondary engine
program for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35. Since then, the U.S.
House has included provisions in its version of the annual
defense authorization bill to revive the project, which GE and
Rolls-Royce plan to self-fund. The Obama administration opposes
the legislation, calling the second engine wasteful spending.

The meeting took place at GE’s request, Whitman said in an
e-mailed statement. In his previous position as the Pentagon’s
acquisition chief, Carter terminated the second-engine project.

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp.,
builds the primary engine for the F-35.

GE Aviation leaders discussed “the GE/Rolls-Royce desire
to seek congressional approval to self-fund the F136 development
in 2012, a proposal which received overwhelming support in the
House Defense Authorization bill,” Kennedy said in an e-mailed
statement. The topic was part of an update on the General
Electric military engine fleet, Kennedy said.

Pentagon Still Opposed

Carter and GE officials agreed during the meeting to find
ways to enhance “work on leading edge engine technologies,”
Whitman said. The Pentagon’s position on scrapping the
development of the second F-35 engine is unchanged, according to
Whitman.

“We believe it is just as important as ever to advocate
for the House DoD Authorization bill provision that preserves
the F136 engine and associated equipment, while authorizing GE
and Rolls Royce to self-fund the engine in 2012,” Kennedy said.

The House legislation prohibits the Defense Department from
destroying or discarding the engines made by GE and Rolls Royce.

General Electric and Rolls Royce proposed to self-fund the
development of the alternative engine for the rest of this year
and next year. That would cost more than $100 million, Kennedy
said in May. The company’s goal is to compete with primary
engine maker Pratt & Whitney starting in 2016, Kennedy said.

Congress still has to approve the 2012 defense
authorization bill, which sets spending targets and military
policy. The House approved the bill in May and the Senate may
start debating its version of the bill as early as next week.

The Senate Armed Services panel included a provision that
prohibits any government funds to be spent on the development of
a second engine for the F-35.